Long Lost Tail
by Supervillegirl
Summary: Part 15 of my Tail series. Sherlock finally confronts Eurus, all while trying to keep him, John and Molly a secret.


Long Lost Tail

_This couldn't be happening. It just couldn't be happening._

Sherlock's sister Eurus had finally resurfaced, out for revenge, and now, they were stuck playing this idiotic game. Sherlock had already warned John beforehand that, no matter what, they couldn't reveal their powers. He had no way of knowing if Eurus knew or not, but he wanted to keep it a secret if it still was (their conversation in Eurus' cell did not make it seem as though she knew of their powers). But now, Sherlock was in danger of breaking his own rule.

Molly Hooper stood in her kitchen on the monitor, making tea as her phone rang and the clock counted down to her potential demise.

_Pick up, Molly, pick up!_

Molly picked up the phone and answered. "Hello, Sherlock."

Sherlock let out a tense breath. She had answered; it would all be okay now.

"Molly, I want you to do something very easy for me and not ask why," said Sherlock quickly.

"All right," said Molly, a little bit of confusion on her face among the smile.

"Molly, please, without asking why, just say these words," said Sherlock slowly and clearly.

"What words?" asked Molly, clearly intrigued.

"I love you," said Sherlock as clinically as he could. He could not reveal to Eurus how much this was killing him.

Molly froze for several seconds, stunned, before she took the phone away from her ear. "Leave me alone."

"Molly, no, _please_, no, don't hang up!" Sherlock almost yelled, gesturing frantically towards the screen. "Do _not _hang up!"

"_Calmly, Sherlock, or I _will _finish her right now," _said Eurus.

Molly raised the phone to her ear again. "Why are you doing this to me? Why are you making fun of me? I thought…" She closed her eyes and shook her head. "I thought you'd changed."

"Please, I swear, you just have to listen to me," said Sherlock.

"_Softer, Sherlock!" _said Eurus.

Sherlock practically glared up towards the speaker in the corner before focusing once more on Molly. He decided to venture into more familiar territory. Molly always helped him with his cases and experiments; she knew how important his work was. "Molly, this is for a case. It's…it's a sort of experiment."

Molly's jaw clenched. "I'm not an experiment, Sherlock."

Sherlock's eyes widened in panic at the connotation he hadn't realized his words had had. "No, I know you're not an experiment. You're my—" he caught himself just before he let anything slip, "friend. We're friends. But…please. Just…say those words for me."

Molly shook her head slightly. "Please don't do this. Just…just…don't do it."

Sherlock forced a smile onto his face, trying not to let the despair fill his mind. "It's _very _important. I can't say why, but I promise you it is."

"I can't say that. I can't…I can't say that to you."

"Of _course _you can," said Sherlock, starting to get upset at the time that was running out and no sign of Molly repeating those words in sight. "Why can't you?"

_Please, Molly, please say it, _Sherlock thought as he continued to try to convince her._ I can't lose you._

"Because…it's…" Molly started to cry, "true, Sherlock."

Sherlock's heart wrenched in his chest, and his face nearly crumpled before he caught himself, remembering Eurus was watching.

"It's _always _been true," Molly told him.

So, she **did **feel the same as he. And now, this phone call was going to kill that love. Sherlock's jaw clenched; he had no choice. He would rather her be alive and angry than dead and at peace.

"Well, if it's true, just say it anyway," said Sherlock softly, hating himself every second.

Molly laughed cynically. "You bastard."

"Say it anyway," said Sherlock firmly.

"_You _say it," said Molly.

Sherlock's world slammed to a halt, countdown and all.

"Go on," said Molly. "You say it first."

Sherlock almost turned away but then frowned at the screen. "What?"

"Say it," said Molly, her voice softening as she hesitated slightly. "Say it like you mean it."

Sherlock only stared at her on the screen in shock. _No. Not like this. Please, not like this._

He was supposed to tell her he loved her over dinner or a chat at his flat; anything but this. It could not happen like this. How would she ever believe him now that he'd had to supposedly tell her for an _experiment_? She would never forgive him for this.

Sherlock glanced at the clock; twenty-eight seconds left. He looked back at the screen. It didn't matter. He would do anything for her. Even if that meant losing her forever.

"I-I…" began Sherlock, hesitating as he watched Molly clutching frantically at her phone. Sherlock nearly broke right then; she was so desperate to have this one moment, to have something she honestly believed she would never get. He raised his chin a little, forcing himself to save her life. "I love you."

Molly closed her eyes as she smiled slightly before frowning again.

Sherlock let everything around him melt away as he pretended that right then and there, it was just the two of them in her flat. His voice softened. "I love you."

Molly stood there for a moment before she pulled the phone away from her ear.

Everything came back into focus as Sherlock's tension ratcheted back up again. "Molly?" He glanced at the clock; thirteen seconds.

Molly brought the phone towards her, staring into the distance as her eyes shone with tears.

Sherlock stepped closer to the screen in panic. "Molly, _please_." _Please, Molly. I can't lose you!_

Molly closed her eyes as she opened her mouth in a whisper. "I love you."

Sherlock gasped as he reeled backwards, burying his face in his hands as he willed his heart to calm back down. _Oh, thank God._

* * *

Well, so much for Eurus not finding out their secret. She had chosen to shove John into a deep well full of water, and, well… She had made enough comments to lead Sherlock to believe that she had connected the dots and knew Sherlock was a merman as well.

But he couldn't think about that now. Eurus had drugged John—presumably after finding out John could control water and therefore wouldn't drown like she wanted—and so, he had no way of keeping the water away from his airways. Once the water being flooded into the well covered John, he would have fifteen minutes until he lost him.

"Eurus, you said the answer's in the song," said Sherlock, rushing back to the screen in the hall of his childhood home, "but I went through the song line by line all those years ago, and I found nothing. I couldn't find _anything_. And there-there was a beech tree in the grounds, and I dug. I dug and dug and dug and dug. Sixteen feet by six; sixteen yards; sixteen meters—and I found _nothing_. _No one_."

"It was a clever little puzzle, wasn't it?" said Eurus on the screen. "So, why couldn't you work it out, Sherlock?" She paused, narrowing her eyes at him.

"What happened to Redbeard?" Sherlock asked her.

Eurus only stared at him before tilting her head. "Remember Daddy's allergy? What _was _he allergic to? What would he never let you have all those times you begged? Well, he's _never _let you have a dog."

Sherlock frowned, thinking back to his childhood with Redbeard. _No, that's not right. Dad was never allergic to dogs. I remember Redbeard!_

"What a funny little memory, Sherlock," said Eurus. "You were upset…and so, you told yourself a better story."

Sherlock thought back through his memories, bringing up the image of Redbeard. But something was wrong. He was all fuzzy and blurred. The dog was sitting on a beach he and his family used to go to on holiday, and he was faced away from Sherlock.

"But we never had a dog," said Eurus.

The fuzzy image suddenly stood and turned, and it was a small boy, a purple bandana tied around his neck with a plastic eyepatch over his eye and a plastic sword in his hand.

Sherlock's jaw dropped as it all came back. "Victor…"

"Now, it's coming," said Eurus softly.

"Victor Trevor," said Sherlock, his voice shaking. "We played pirates. I was Yellowbeard, and he was…" he raised his teary gaze to hers on the screen, "he was Redbeard."

"You were inseparable," said Eurus. "But I wanted to play, too."

"Oh," said Sherlock, burying his head in his hands. "Oh, God." He looked back at her. "What…what did you do?"

Eurus began singing her song again, gaze drifting off to the side. Sherlock's head reeled as he realized that his sister had drowned his childhood best friend in the well his new best friend was currently drowning in. "Oh, God…"

"Deep waters, Sherlock, all your life," said Eurus. "In all your dreams." She smirked at the irony of it all. "Deep waters."

"You killed him," said Sherlock. "You killed my best friend."

Eurus glared at him. "I never _had _a best friend. I had _no one_. No one."

Sherlock's eyes flickered briefly at the words she used. "Okay." He nodded as the pieces clicked. "Okay, let's play."

And so began the journey through the graveyard, deciphering the riddle in the song. By the time Sherlock got to the well, there was only ten minutes left before John's lungs ran out of air. Sherlock ran towards the well, throwing his hand forward, and the lid flew off of the well. Sherlock reached the well and leaned over the edge, shoving his hand down towards the water. It instantly surged up out of the well and to the ground some twenty feet away. He looked down at the empty well, seeing John lying at the bottom, his tail bent up in the small space.

Sherlock pulled some gloves on and threw a rope over the side, climbing down towards his friend and being careful not to let any of the dripping water touch him. He landed next to John's unconscious body, and he reached down, shaking him.

"John?" said Sherlock, turning his head and pulling an eyelid back to check his pupils. "John!"

_He's still drugged, _he thought. He frowned in thought. _Never tried it before, but no time like the present._

Sherlock stretched his hand out over John, closing his eyes in concentration. He felt for the blood flowing through his veins, his eyes snapping open when he discovered a different feeling; something that seemed to prickle against his mind, something almost bitter. Sherlock looked down at John and focused again, zeroing in on that bitter feeling. He drew it along John's bloodstream, bringing it towards the capillaries in his epidermis to draw it out. As he felt the substance evaporate into the air, John slowly came to.

"John," said Sherlock, kneeling down next to him.

John looked up at him and then down at his body. "Eurus' doing?"

Sherlock nodded. "Are you all right?"

"I think she drugged me," John told him, pulling himself up.

"I took care of it," said Sherlock, reaching forward and freezing the chain tied around John's waist. He broke it as John started drying his legs off.

"Does she know about you?" asked John.

"Oh, yes," said Sherlock. "Not to worry. She won't be bothering anyone anymore."

"No?" asked John as his legs reappeared.

"No," said Sherlock, handing the rope over to his friend. "Now, let's go find out what she did with Mycroft."

* * *

As the helicopter lifted off of the beach of Sherrinford Island, a figure surfaced in the water nearby. The woman stared up at the helicopter bearing Sherlock back to London after his visit with his sister.

The woman smiled. _Finally._

She dove forward into the water towards the helicopter, her mermaid tail slapping the surface before disappearing under the waves.

* * *

**Uh-oh. What did I do now?**


End file.
